Electric vehicle having a modular structure

ABSTRACT

An electric vehicle includes a modular support structure having a central frame module and front and rear frame modules in the form of a lattice framework, having two upper longitudinal beams and two lower longitudinal beams connected to each other by uprights and cross-members. The front frame module carries a front suspension with wheel supports carried by upper and lower oscillating arms, and a front electric motor unit including two electric motors, having respective motor axes coincident with each other and arranged along a transverse direction with respect to a vehicle longitudinal direction. The motors are positioned spaced apart from each other, and are symmetrical with respect to a vehicle median line. Two gear reducing units are arranged centrally between the two electric motors, with housings having lateral walls from which output shafts project, which are connected by drive shafts to wheel hubs rotatably mounted on the wheel supports.

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATION

This application claims priority to European Patent Application No. 18161 479.3 filed Mar. 13, 2018. The disclosure of the above applicationis incorporated herein by reference in its entirety.

FIELD OF THE INVENTION

The present invention relates to electric vehicles of the typecomprising:

-   -   a support structure,    -   a front electric motor unit carried by said support structure at        a central position between two front wheels, and    -   a front suspension carried by said support structure and        including wheel supports each connected to the support structure        by an upper oscillating arm and a lower oscillating arm, with        wheel hubs rotatably mounted on said wheel supports and        connected by means of two drive shafts to two output shafts of        the electric motor unit.

PRIOR ART

FIG. 1 of the annexed drawings is a front view of the powertrain unitand the front suspension of a conventional vehicle provided with aninternal combustion engine and the associated transmission. In thisfigure, reference numeral 1 generally designates the structure of thevehicle, on which an internal combustion engine 2 is supported. Theexample shown relates to the case in which the suspension subunitassociated with each wheel comprises a wheel support 3 connected to thestructure 1 of the motor-vehicle by an upper oscillating arm 4 and twolower oscillating arms 5. Between one of the lower arms 5 and thevehicle structure there is operatively interposed a spring-damper unit6. Each wheel support 3 rotatably supports a wheel hub 7 which is drivenin rotation by the powertrain unit 2 through a driveshaft 8. As shown inFIG. 1, the two spring-damper units are arranged according to asubstantially vertical orientation at the two sides of the powertrainunit 2. This arrangement of course poses some limits to the possibilityof reducing the vertical dimension of the entire unit, given that theupper ends 6A of the spring-damper units must be arranged at arelatively elevated level with respect to the wheel axes. Still withreference to FIG. 1, numeral 9 designates the brake disc associated witheach wheel hub 7. With each brake disc 9 there is associated a brakecaliper 10 which is mounted on the wheel support 3. The swivel jointsconnecting each wheel support 3 to the upper and lower arms 4, 5 definea wheel steering axis 11. In order to arrange the steering axis 11 asmuch close as possible to the wheel centre, for reasons which will beclarified more in detail in the following, the wheel support isconfigured so as to extend upwardly much above the respective wheelaxis, which again poses limits to the possibility of reducing thevertical dimension of the entire suspension unit.

FIG. 2 of the annexed drawings shows a front suspension of an electricvehicle according to the prior art. In this figure, parts identical orcorresponding to those of FIG. 1 are designated by the same referencenumeral. FIG. 2 shows an example of an electric vehicle obtained bymaintaining substantially the same construction of the vehiclesuspension of FIG. 1, while replacing the powertrain unit 2, includingthe internal combustion engine and the transmission unit associatedtherewith, with an electric motor unit M having two outputs connected bydrive shafts 8 to the hubs of the two wheels of the vehicle. As itreadily appears from the comparison with FIG. 1, the space occupiedinside the engine compartment by the electric motor unit M isconsiderably reduced with respect to the space occupied by thepowertrain unit 2 of FIG. 1. In spite of this, in the known electricvehicles of the type shown in FIG. 2, the configuration and thearrangement of the wheel supports 3 and the spring-damper units 6 remainsubstantially similar to those provided in motor-vehicles having aninternal combustion engine and therefore generate the same drawbackswhich have been mentioned above.

OBJECT OF THE INVENTION

A first object of the invention is that of providing an electric vehicleof the type indicated at the beginning of the present description whichcan be configured and assembled according to modularity criteria, so asto simplify the production of the vehicle and reduce the productioncost.

A further object of the present invention is that of providing anelectric vehicle having an improved suspension construction, able toconsiderably reduce the general dimensions of the suspension, above allin the vertical direction and which also provides a considerablereduction of the stresses to which the components of the suspension aresubjected.

A further object of the invention is that of providing an electricvehicle of the above indicated type having a suspension which can beconfigured so as to have additional functions, such as a suspensionactive control and/or a vehicle height level control function, withoutany substantial complication in the assembling of the suspension andwithout substantially increasing the dimensions of the suspension.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

In view of achieving one or more of the above indicated objects, theinvention provides an electric vehicle having all the features whichhave been indicated at the beginning of the present description andfurther characterized in that:

-   -   the support structure is a modular structure, including at least        a central frame module and front and rear frame modules,    -   the front frame module is in form of a lattice framework, having        two upper longitudinal beams and two lower longitudinal beams        connected to each other by uprights and cross-members,    -   the front electric motor unit comprises:    -   two electric motors, having respective motor axes coincident        with each other and arranged along a transverse direction with        respect to the longitudinal direction of the vehicle, said        motors being in positions spaced apart from each other,        symmetrically with respect to the median line of the vehicle,        and    -   two gear reducing units arranged centrally between the two        electric motors, with housings having lateral walls from which        said output shafts project, which are connected by drive shafts        to the wheel hubs.

In a preferred embodiment, the vehicle support structure includes a rearframe module identical to the front frame module and removably connectedto a rear end of the central frame module. The rear frame module carriesa rear suspension and a rear electric motor unit identical to said frontsuspension and said front electric motor unit.

Preferably, the upper longitudinal beams of the front frame module areconfigured so as to constitute two push-rods adapted to absorb impactenergy following a front collision of the vehicle.

Also in the case of the preferred embodiment, on the two output shaftsof the, or each, electric motor unit, adjacent to the two sides of theelectric motor unit and at a distance from the respective wheels, thereare mounted two brake discs which are connected by said drive shafts tothe hubs of the two wheels. Brake calipers cooperating with said brakediscs are carried by the frame module, adjacent to the two sides of theelectric motor unit.

Also in the case of the preferred embodiment, each wheel support carriedby said front frame module is rotatable around a steering axis definedby the swivel joints connecting the wheel support to the upper and lowerarms and the swivel joints connecting each wheel support to the upperand lower arms define a steering axis passing through the respectivewheel centre, or closely adjacent thereto, i.e. having a substantiallyzero kingpin offset.

In this embodiment, the large space inside the engine compartmentderiving from the use of an electric motor unit, in replacement of aconventional internal combustion engine and the transmission thereof, isexploited to arrange the brake discs at a remote position with respectto the wheels. Due to the absence of brake discs adjacent to the wheelhubs, it can be obtained that the steering axis of each wheel passesthrough the respective wheel centre, or closely adjacent thereto(substantially zero kingpin offset) without the need of arranging theswivel joints connecting the wheel supports to the upper oscillatingarms of the suspension at a very elevated position, above the wheels,with the result that the vertical dimension of the entire unit isgreatly reduced. Moreover, the above mentioned result can be obtainedwith a simplified construction of the suspension, in which the wheelsupport is connected to a single upper arm by a single swivel joint andto a single lower arm by a single joint.

The arrangement of each steering axis with a zero kingpin offset givesthe possibility of exploiting the very high torques provided by electricmotors without any risk of undesired shocks on the steering wheel. Thisarrangement has the further advantage of nullifying the so-called “brakecaster” consisting in the variation of the caster angle defined by thesteering axis during braking due to the interaction between the wheelsupport and the brake disc. Also for this reason, the suspensionaccording to the invention does not require a “high” suspensionquadrilateral linkage with the resulting possibility of reducing thenon-suspended masses and making the entire system lighter.

A further advantage derives from that the forces along the verticaldirection transmitted to the wheel by the ground are discharged directlyat the steering axis, without generating any torque, given that thekingpin offset is zero. In the known solutions, this torque usuallycauses a need of providing filtering systems, such as elastic bushes ofrelatively large dimensions, with resulting drawbacks of an increase inweight and cost, and greater layout constraints.

This advantage provides a decrease of the vehicle rolling noise (alsocalled “load noise”) since vertical forces on the wheel do not generateforces in a transverse direction which have to be filtered.

In the case of the preferred embodiment the above mentioned suspensionfurther comprises:

-   -   two shock absorber cylinders arranged in substantially        horizontal positions and along two directions substantially        transversal with respect to the longitudinal direction of the        vehicle,    -   each shock absorber cylinder has a first end connected to said        frame module and the second end operatively connected to one of        said upper and lower oscillating arms of the respective wheel by        an oscillating linkage member,    -   said oscillating linkage member comprises a first portion        pivotally connected to said frame module, a second portion        connected to said second end of the respective shock absorber        cylinder, and a third portion connected to one of said upper and        lower oscillating arms by a respective articulated rod.

Also preferably, said suspension comprises spring means in form of asingle leaf spring arranged transversely with respect to thelongitudinal direction of the vehicle and having a central portionconnected to the frame module of the suspension and end portionsconnected to respective oscillating arms of the suspension.

In a further improved variant, with each shock absorber cylinder thereis associated an actuator device for the suspension active control, saidleaf spring has its central portion carried by the frame module so as tobe adjustable in height and with said leaf spring there is associated anactuator device for adjustment of the position in height of the centralportion of the leaf spring.

Further optional features of the vehicle according to the invention areindicated in the annexed dependent claims.

DESCRIPTION OF PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS

Further features and advantages of the present invention will becomeapparent from the following description with reference to theaccompanying drawings, given purely by way of non-limiting example, inwhich:

FIG. 1 is a front view of a powertrain unit and a front suspension of amotor-vehicle, according to the prior art,

FIG. 2 is a perspective view of a front suspension unit and an electricmotor unit in an electric motor-vehicle according to the prior art,

FIG. 3 is a diagrammatic lateral view of an exemplary embodiment of amotor-vehicle according to the invention,

FIG. 4 is a perspective view which shows a detail of the structure ofthe motor-vehicle of FIG. 3,

FIG. 5 is a perspective view of the suspension unit which in themotor-vehicle of FIG. 3 is used both for the front suspension and therear suspension,

FIG. 6 is a further partial perspective view from below of the unit ofFIG. 5,

FIG. 7 is a perspective view at an enlarged scale of some details of theunit of FIG. 5,

FIG. 8 is a further perspective view from below of the unit of FIG. 5,

FIG. 9 is a front view of the unit of FIG. 5,

FIG. 10 is a partial perspective view from above of the unit of FIG. 5,

FIG. 11 is a perspective view, at an enlarged scale of some componentsof the unit of FIG. 5,

FIG. 12 is a perspective view of a further exemplary embodiment of thesuspension unit of the vehicle according to the invention,

FIG. 13 is a lateral view of a spring-damper unit forming part of theunit of FIG. 12,

FIG. 14 shows a detail of FIG. 1, and

FIG. 15 is a further front view of the unit of FIG. 5 in which a furtherpreferred feature of the present invention is shown.

In FIG. 3 reference numeral 12 generally designates an embodiment of avehicle according to the invention. Vehicle 12 is an electric vehicle.In the case of the preferred example illustrated herein, both the frontwheels RA and the rear wheels RP of the vehicle 12 are powered wheelsdriven by a respective electric motor unit. Also in the case of thepreferred example, the front suspension and the rear suspension of thevehicle 12 form part of respective units13, 14 which are substantiallyidentical to each other and each carrying the respective suspensionsystem and the respective electric motor unit.

In the embodiment shown in FIGS. 3, 4, the structure of the vehiclecomprises a central frame module 15 and two, front and rear, framemodules 16. The two front and rear frame modules 16 are substantiallyidentical to each other and constitute the supporting structure of therespective suspension system and the respective electric motor unit. Theconfiguration of each of the front and rear frame modules 16 will bedescribed in detail herein in the following. With reference to FIG. 4,which shows a partial exploded perspective view of the front unit 13 andthe central module 15, the frame module 16 of the front unit 13 isconnected to the front part of the central module 15 by a plurality ofscrews 17 which engage the frame module 16 and brackets 18 screwed orwelded to the central module 15.

FIGS. 5-10 show a preferred embodiment of a unit carrying the elementsof the suspension and the electric motor unit which in the illustratedexample is adopted both for the front wheels RA and for the rear wheelsRP. However, it is clearly apparent that the unit of FIGS. 5-9 couldalso be used only on the front axle or only on the rear axle of thevehicle.

With reference to the example shown in FIGS. 5-9, the frame module 16constituting the supporting structure of unit 13 comprises two upperlongitudinal beams 19 and two lower longitudinal beams 20 (only one ofwhich is partially visible in FIG. 5).

The upper longitudinal beams 19 are connected to the lower longitudinalbeams 20 by two front uprights 21 and two rear uprights 22 (see FIG. 6).

With reference to FIG. 5, the front ends of the two upper longitudinalbeams 19 are connected to each other by a cross-member 23, whereas thefront ends of the two lower longitudinal beams 20 are connected to eachother by a cross-member 24. With reference to FIG. 6, the lower ends ofthe two rear uprights 22 are connected to each other by a cross-member250.

According to a preferred feature of the present invention, the two upperlongitudinal beams have a quadrangular cross-section and are toconstitute, in the finally assembled motor-vehicle, the longitudinalpushrods connected to the motor-vehicle front structure, typically withthe interposition of crash-box elements.

The supporting structure constituted by the frame module 16 of eachunits 13 or 14 carries an electric motor-unit 25 which in theillustrated example includes two electric motors M. The details ofconstruction of the electric motors M are not described nor shownherein, since the motors M may be made according to any known art andalso because these details, taken alone, do not fall within the scope ofthe present invention. The structure of each electric motor M is mountedon the frame module 16 with the axis of the motor directed transverselywith respect to the longitudinal direction of the motor-vehicle, whichin FIG. 5 is indicated by arrow A. To each electric motor M there isassociated a gear reducer unit R whose housing is also supported by theframe module 16. The two electric motors M are spaced apart from eachother transversally and are arranged symmetrically with respect to thevertical longitudinal plane of the motor-vehicle. The two gear reducerunits R are interposed between motors M, symmetrically with respect tothe above-mentioned longitudinal plane and have output shafts 26 attheir opposite sides, which are connected by respective drive shafts 27to hubs H of the two front wheels (in the case of FIG. 5) or the tworear wheels of the motor-vehicle.

The frame module 16 of unit 13 also carries all the elements of thesuspension associated with the wheels of the motor-vehicle. For eachwheel, a wheel support 28 is provided which is connected to the framemodule 16 by an upper oscillating arm 29 and a lower oscillating arm 30.The upper oscillating arm 29 is swivelly connected to the wheel support28 by a spherical swivel joint 31, of any known type. The upperoscillating arm 29 has a triangle-like shape, with two end inner armswhich are swivelly connected to the frame module 16 around a common axisby means of two swivel joints 32. With reference to FIG. 6, also thelower oscillating arm 30 has a triangle-like configuration with an outerend connected to the wheel support 28 by means of a spherical swiveljoint 33 and two inner end arms swivelly connected around a common axisto the frame module 16 by means of two swivel joints 34. Thearticulation axes of the two upper swivel joints 32 and the two lowerswivel joints 34 on the frame module 16 are directed substantially alongdirections parallel to the longitudinal direction A of themotor-vehicle.

The upper swivel joint 31 and the lower swivel joint 33 of each wheelsupport 28 define a steering axis S of the wheel (FIG. 16), which willbe discussed in the following.

Each wheel support rotatably supports the respective wheel hub, which isconnected to the respective driveshaft 27 by means of a homokineticjoint 35.

To each wheel support 28 there is further connected, by means of aswivel joint 36, a steering pull-rod 37 driven by an actuator unit 38arranged transversally with respect to the longitudinal direction of themotor-vehicle and carried by the lower part of the frame module 16 (seeFIG. 6).

With reference in particular to FIGS. 6, 8, the suspension unit furtherincludes two shock absorber cylinders D. Contrary to the known solutionsshown in FIGS. 1, 2, in the vehicle according to the invention the shockabsorber cylinders D are arranged along two directions which aresubstantially transverse with respect to the longitudinal direction A ofthe motor-vehicle. In the case of the preferred example shown in FIGS.6, 8 the two shock absorber cylinders D are arranged below the electricmotor unit 25 in the lower part of the unit 13. Also in the case of thepreferred example illustrated herein, the elastic means of thesuspension are not constituted by helical springs associated with theshock absorber cylinders, as in the case of the known solutions of FIGS.1, 2. In this preferred example, the spring means of the suspension areindeed constituted by a single leaf spring LS, whose configuration andarrangement will be described in detail hereinafter.

Reverting to FIGS. 6, 8 in the preferred example illustrated herein, thetwo shock absorber cylinders have ends adjacent to each other which arepivotally mounted by swivel joints 38 to a bracket 39 projecting in acantilever fashion from the lower cross-member 250. At the end oppositeto joint 38 of the body of each shock absorber cylinder D there extendsa stem which is operatively connected to the respective loweroscillating arm 30 of the suspension, in the way which will be describedin the following. The stem of each shock absorber cylinder D isconnected in particular by means of a swivel joint 40 to a linkagemember 41 (see also FIG. 7) having substantially a triangle-likeconfiguration. The oscillating linkage member 41 has a first portion 42pivotally mounted around a substantially longitudinal axis 43 on theframe module 16. A second portion 44 of the oscillating linkage member41 is connected by means of the swivel joint 40 to the stem of therespective shock absorbers cylinder D. A third portion 45 of theoscillating linkage member 41 (see FIG. 7) is connected by means of anarticulated rod 46 to the respective lower oscillating arm 30. Thearticulated rod 46 has its ends respectively articulated to the portion45 of the linkage member 41 and the lower oscillating arm 30.

Due to the above described arrangement, shown at an enlarged scale inFIG. 7, the movements of the suspension are transmitted by the loweroscillating arm 30 to the respective shock absorber cylinder D by meansof the articulated rod 46 and the oscillating linkage member 41.

Further, the position of maximum shortening of the shock absorbercylinder D is defined by engagement of a disc plate 47 carried by theportion 45 of the oscillating linkage member 41 against a rubber padmember 48 carried by the frame module 16.

As it will become apparent from the foregoing description, in themotor-vehicle according to the invention the space available inside theengine compartment, due to that the motor-vehicle is provided with anelectric motor unit rather than with a conventional power unit includingan internal combustion engine and the gearbox associated therewith, isadvantageously used to avoid an arrangement of the shock absorbercylinders D in a conventional vertical position (FIGS. 1, 2) which poseslimits to the minimum height of the front suspension of themotor-vehicle.

In a preferred embodiment, with each shock absorber cylinder D there isassociated, in a way known per se, an actuator unit 49 (see FIGS. 6 and8) including, in a way known per se, an electric motor and a pump ableto cause the respective shock absorbers cylinder D to operate as anactive hydraulic cylinder, in order to provide a suspension activecontrol. In this case, cylinders D can be used to automatically cause adetermined vertical movement of the motor-vehicle wheels in determinedtravel conditions. The actuator units 49 are controlled by solenoidvalves which are controlled by an electronic controller according to apredetermined logic, as a function of determined operating conditions.For example, the electronic controller may be programmed toautomatically cause, with a reaction time in the order of a fewmilliseconds, a raising movement of the wheels with respect to thevehicle structure as soon as sensors provided for these purpose detectengagement of the wheel against an obstacle, so as to enable the wheelto overcome the obstacle without causing any substantial movement of thevehicle structure in the vertical direction.

The horizontal arrangement of the shock absorber cylinders D which isprovided in the case of the motor-vehicle according to the inventionalso enables each actuator unit 49 to be arranged with no problems ofavailable space, contrary to what happens in conventional suspensions ofthe type shown in FIGS. 1, 2, in which the actuator unit associated withthe shock absorbers cylinder involves problems of interference with thewheels support during steering of the wheel.

As already indicated above, in the preferred example illustrated herein,the elastic means of the suspension are constituted by a transverse leafspring LS whose ends are connected by means of damping supports 50 totwo oscillating upper arms 29 (FIG. 10).

In the illustrated example, each damping support 50 has a screw 51 forconnection of the leaf spring LS to the arm 29 with the interposition ofa cylinder of elastomeric material.

In the simplest solution, the central portion of the transverse leafspring LS is rigidly connected to the frame module 16. However, in thepreferred example shown in FIGS. 10-12, the central portion of the leafspring LS is rigidly connected by means of a clamping device 52 to theend of a lever 53 pivotally mounted by means of an elastic bush 54 tothe frame module 16 around a transverse axis 55. The end of the lever 53connected to the leaf spring LS is further connected by means of anelastic bush 56 to the end of a linear actuator 57 whose opposite end ispivotally connected by means of an elastic bush 58 to the frame module16. The axes of elastic bushes 56, 58 are also directed transversally.The actuator unit 57 includes an electric motor 59 which drives ascrew-and-nut actuator by means of a gear reducer unit, whose housing isdesignated by 60. The actuator unit 57 enables the height of theclamping device 52 to be varied with respect to axis 55 of thearticulation to the frame module 16. Therefore, when the two levers 53are raised, the entire transverse leaf spring LS is raised, causing acorresponding raising movement of the arms 29 and the wheel supports 28with respect to the frame module 16. The possibility of an adjustment ofthe height of the motor-vehicle with respect to the ground is therebyobtained, which can be useful for example for shifting from aconfiguration adapted to a normal driving mode to a configurationadapted to a sport driving mode.

FIG. 12 shows an alternative embodiment, in which the two shock absorbercylinders D are in a horizontal position above the suspension unit,arranged side-by-side in the space between the two upper longitudinalbeams 19. In this case the spring means of the suspension are of aconventional type, i.e. they are constituted by helical springscoaxially associated with the shock absorber cylinders. Furthermore, inthis case, according to a technique known per se, with the shockabsorber cylinder there is associated both the actuator unit 49 foroperating the cylinder as an active hydraulic cylinder, and the actuatorunit 57 for the adjustment of the height of the motor-vehicle withrespect to the ground. In this case, the actuator unit 57 varies theaxial position of the disc plate on which one end of the helical spring61 associated with the shock absorber cylinder D is supported. FIG. 14shows a detail of FIG. 1 and relates to a known front suspension of amotor-vehicle provided with an internal combustion engine 2. Thepresence of the brake disc 9 and the associated caliper 10 adjacent tothe wheel hub implies that the steering axis 11 of the wheel, defined bythe swivel joints connecting the wheel support 3 to the upperoscillating arm 4 and the lower oscillating arm 5 (in the illustratedexample two lower arms 5A, 5B are provided which define a semi-virtualsteering axis, passing through the point of connection of the wheelsupport 3 to the upper oscillating arm 4 and through a point defined bythe intersection of the two median axes of the two lower oscillatingarms 5A, 5B) which do not pass through the wheel centre C. In the actualcase shown the distance F between axis 11 and the wheel centre C is 45mm. This distance (also called “kingpin offset”) generates drawbacks,above all when the internal combustion engine is replaced by an electricmotor able to transmit very high torques to the wheels of themotor-vehicle. In this case, the kingpin offset is at the origin ofstresses on the steering pull-rod T and hence on the toothed rack of thesteering device, thus causing unacceptable shocks on the steering wheel.

In the exemplary embodiment of the invention which is shown in FIGS.5-10 and 15, which has been described in the foregoing, it is furtherprovided that the brake discs 9 (see also the solution shown in FIG. 4)are mounted directly at the outputs 26 of the two electric motors M andconnected to respective wheel hubs H by drive shafts 27. Thisarrangement is made possible by the relevant space available in theengine compartment due to the elimination of the internal combustionengine. The frame of module 16 also supports the calipers 10 associatedwith discs 9. Avoiding to arrange the brake discs and the brake calipersadjacent to the wheel hubs H renders possible to arrange the upper andlower oscillating arms 29, 30 and respective swivel joints 31, 33 so asto define a steering axis 11 passing exactly through the wheel centre C,so as to overcome the above described drawback. A further advantage ofthis arrangement lies in that the result of a steering axis 11 passingthrough the wheel centre C can be obtained with a “low” quadrilateral,i.e. by arranging the upper oscillating arm 29 at a relatively lowposition with respect to the ground and with respect to the wheel,differently from what happens in the known solution of FIG. 1, where, inorder to keep axis 11 as close as possible to the wheel centre C (FIG.14) the connecting point between the wheel support 3 and the upperoscillating arm 4 is arranged very high with respect to the ground andwith respect to the wheel. This generates the further drawback of posinga further limit to the possibility of having a relatively low profile ofthe motor car with respect to the ground in the front part of the motorcar.

Naturally, while the principle of the invention remains the same, theembodiments and the details of construction may widely vary with respectto what has been described purely by way of example without departingfrom the scope of the invention as defined in the annexed claims.

What is claimed is:
 1. An electric vehicle, comprising: a supportstructure, a front electric motor unit carried by said support structurein a central position between two front wheels, and a front suspensioncarried by said support structure, including wheel supports eachconnected to the supporting structure by an upper oscillating arm and alower oscillating arm, with wheel hubs rotatably mounted on said wheelsupports and connected by two drive shafts to two output shafts of thefront electric motor unit, wherein: the support structure is a modularstructure, including at least a central frame module and front and rearframe modules, the front frame module is in a form of a latticeframework, having two upper longitudinal beams and two lowerlongitudinal beams connected to each other by uprights andcross-members, the front electric motor unit comprises: two electricmotors, having respective motor axes coincident with each other andarranged along a transverse direction with respect to a longitudinaldirection of the vehicle, said motors being in positions spaced apartfrom each other and symmetrical with respect to a median line of thevehicle, and two gear reducing units arranged centrally between the twoelectric motors, with housings having lateral walls from which saidoutput shafts project, which are connected by the drive shafts to thewheel hubs.
 2. The electric vehicle according to claim 1, wherein thesupport structure includes the rear frame module, which is identical tothe front frame module and removably connected to a rear end of thecentral frame module, and wherein the rear frame module carries a rearsuspension and a respective rear electric motor unit identical to saidfront suspension and said front electric motor unit.
 3. The electricvehicle according to claim 1, wherein the upper longitudinal beams ofthe front frame module are configured so as to constitute two push-rodsadapted to absorb impact energy following a front collision of thevehicle.
 4. The electric vehicle according to claim 1, wherein on thetwo output shafts of the electric motor unit, adjacent to two sides ofthe electric motor unit and at a distance from the respective wheels,there are mounted two brake discs which are connected by said driveshafts to the hubs of the two wheels, and wherein brake caliperscooperating with said brake discs are carried by the frame module,adjacent to the two sides of the electric motor unit.
 5. The electricvehicle according to claim 4, wherein each wheel support carried by saidfront frame module is rotatable around a steering axis defined by theswivel joints connecting the wheel support to the upper and lower arms,and in that the swivel joints connecting each wheel support to the upperand lower arms define a steering axis passing through the respectivewheel center, or closely adjacent thereto, and thereby having asubstantially zero kingpin offset.
 6. The electric vehicle according toclaim 1, wherein said suspension further comprises: two shock absorbercylinders arranged in substantially horizontal positions and along twodirections substantially transversal with respect to the longitudinaldirection of the vehicle, below or above said electric motor unit, eachshock absorber cylinder has a first end connected to said frame moduleand a second end operatively connected to one of said upper and loweroscillating arms of the respective wheel by an oscillating linkagemember, said oscillating linkage member comprises a first portionpivotally connected to said frame module, a second portion connected tosaid second end of the respective shock absorber cylinder and a thirdportion connected to one of said upper and lower oscillating arms by arespective articulated rod.
 7. The electric vehicle according to claim6, wherein said suspension comprises a spring arrangement in the form ofa single leaf spring arranged transversely with respect to thelongitudinal direction of the vehicle and having a central portionconnected to the frame module and end portions connected to respectiveoscillating arms of the suspension.
 8. The electric vehicle according toclaim 7, wherein with each of said shock absorber cylinders there isassociated an actuator device for a suspension active control, whereinsaid leaf spring has its central portion carried by the frame module soas to be adjustable in height, and wherein with said leaf spring thereis associated another actuator device for adjustment of a position inheight of the central portion of the leaf spring.
 9. The electricvehicle according to claim 7, wherein the end portions of said leafspring are connected to respective oscillating arms of the suspension byelastic supports.
 10. The electric vehicle according to claim 7, whereinthe central portion of said leaf spring is carried by two arms pivotallymounted around a common axis on the frame module by means of elasticbushes and having opposite ends connected to the ends of two respectiveactuator devices.
 11. The electric vehicle according to claim 6, whereinwith each shock absorber cylinder there is associated a pad membercooperating operatively with the shock absorber cylinder to define anend-of-travel position of minimum length of the shock absorber cylinder,said pad member been mounted on said frame module and being adapted tocooperate with a disc plate carried by said oscillating linkage member.12. The electric vehicle according to claim 6, wherein said suspensioncomprises a spring arrangement constituted by helical springsrespectively associated to said two shock absorber cylinders.
 13. Theelectric vehicle according to claim 12, wherein with each of said shockabsorber cylinders there is associated an actuator device for asuspension active control and another actuator device for adjustment ofa height position of the vehicle.